Rain hands Hawaiian title to Honu

North Shore edges Waikiki based on regular-season mark

The North Shore Honu were awarded the Hawaii Winter Baseball championship on Wednesday night after their title game with the Waikiki BeachBoys was canceled due to rain.

The East Division champion Honu got the nod over the BeachBoys based on their league-best 26-12 regular-season record. Waikiki went 19-19 and had to take two of three from Honolulu during the final weekend of the regular season to capture the West Division title.

"It's the championship game, everyone's itching to play," said North Shore third baseman and Brewers prospect Matt Gamel, who was named the HWB's Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year after batting .333 with a league-best eight homers and 25 RBIs.

"A lot of fans came out, and it's bad for them. It's bad for [the BeachBoys] because they didn't have a shot to win [the championship]. But in the same breath, the field wasn't really playable so you can't come out here and get anybody hurt."

North Shore was clearly the class of the league, putting together four winning streaks of at least three games, including a season-high six-game run from Oct. 19-25.

"Our goal was going out and winning a ballgame every night, and I think our record indicates that," said North Shore manager Kevin Bradshaw.

The Honu also edged the BeachBoys, 6-5, during the season series, with one rainout. North Shore clinched the division title with an 8-7 victory over Waikiki on Nov. 3.

Michael Blinn is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.